LENT 2016 - TEACHING COMMUNITY - Preface

This post is part of a Lenten series on bell hooks' TEACHING COMMUNITY. You can find an index of posts here.

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The first thing to love about bell hooks is her passion for education. It bleeds through every page, trickles out of every word. It is her passion for pedagogy that leads her to write:

"There are certainly moments in the classroom where I do not excel in the art of teaching. However, it is crucial that we challenge any feeling of shame or embarrassment that teachers who do their job well might be tempted to indulge when praising ourselves or being praised by others for excellent teaching. For when we hide our light we collude in the overall cultural devaluation of our teaching vocation." (xi)

I know that, all too often, I am tempted to undercut the love and passion that I have for teaching and to undervalue what I do well in service to an idol of false humility and a (normally generative but sometimes destructive) self-critique.

LENT 2016 - TEACHING COMMUNITY - INDEX

I've been wanting to blog read a book during Lent, like I did last year with James Cone's CROSS AND THE LYNCHING TREE. Here's this year's choice:

bell hooks, TEACHING COMMUNITY: A PEDAGOGY OF HOPE.

Here's the reading schedule:

Friday, Feb. 12 - Preface

Tuesday, Feb. 16 – Teach 1 and 2

Friday, Feb. 19 – Teach 3

Tuesday, Feb. 23 – Teach 4

Friday, Feb. 26 – Teach 5

Tuesday, Mar. 1 – Teach 6

Friday, Mar. 4 – Teach 7 and 8

Tuesday, Mar. 8 – Teach 9

Friday, Mar. 11 – Teach 10 and 11

Tuesday, Mar. 15 – Teach 12

Friday, Mar. 18 – Teach 13 and 14

Tuesday, Mar. 22 – Teach 15

Friday, Mar. 25 – Teach 16

I've read select chapters from this book before and I am going to be engaging with some of hooks' writing for my dissertation. I have a feeling that this book is vital not just for me, but for our time. hooks is very readable, but that does not mean the reading will be easy. She continually challenges me. This is a good thing.

Join me!

A Week in the Hospital Part 8: Tuesday – Psalm 84

Last week (January 26-February 2, 2016), I ended up in the hospital. Something simple spiraled out of control. While in the hospital, I kept up with the daily reading of psalms that I’ve been practicing since the first of the year. The psalms I read were chosen by the Presbyterian Daily Prayer Lectionary. The psalms are sent to my e-mail every morning and I often read them on my phone, then again in my bible. These psalms helped to frame my experience. The following is an account of my hospital stay for friends and family who want to know what happened. [NOTE: This contains some graphic depictions of medical problems. No pictures, just words.]

To see the previous post, click here.

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(By a “programming fluke,” this psalm was sent to my e-mail instead of the scheduled Psalm 12)

How lovely is your dwelling place,
    O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, indeed it faints
    for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh sing for joy
    to the living God.
Even the sparrow finds a home,
    and the swallow a nest for herself,
    where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
    my King and my God.
Happy are those who live in your house,
    ever singing your praise. (84:1-4)

Another round of doctor check-ins in the morning. All of them said I should go home.

A Week in the Hospital Day 7: Monday – Psalm 62

Last week (January 26-February 2, 2016), I ended up in the hospital. Something simple spiraled out of control. While in the hospital, I kept up with the daily reading of psalms that I’ve been practicing since the first of the year. The psalms I read were chosen by the Presbyterian Daily Prayer Lectionary. The psalms are sent to my e-mail every morning and I often read them on my phone, then again in my bible. These psalms helped to frame my experience. The following is an account of my hospital stay for friends and family who want to know what happened. [NOTE: This contains some graphic depictions of medical problems. No pictures, just words.]

To see the previous post, click here.

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For God alone my soul waits in silence;
    from him comes my salvation.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
    my fortress; I shall never be shaken. (62:1-2)

The doctors all checked in on me. Everything was looking good. My blood pressure was elevated, but they hadn’t yet found bacteria in my blood—the surest sign of infection outside of the TEE. My white blood cell levels had barely ticked up, a possible sign, but nothing sure. Still, they wanted to treat me with a six-week course of antibiotics. Three hours a day for six weeks. They would have to insert a PICC line, a semi-permanent IV threaded through a vein in my arm with the tip almost touching my heart. There were risks, the doctors assured, though minimal. I was wary, since my body had already betrayed me once.

A Week in the Hospital Day 6: Sunday – Psalm 71:1-6

Last week (January 26-February 2, 2016), I ended up in the hospital. Something simple spiraled out of control. While in the hospital, I kept up with the daily reading of psalms that I’ve been practicing since the first of the year. The psalms I read were chosen by the Presbyterian Daily Prayer Lectionary. The psalms are sent to my e-mail every morning and I often read them on my phone, then again in my bible. These psalms helped to frame my experience. The following is an account of my hospital stay for friends and family who want to know what happened. [NOTE: This contains some graphic depictions of medical problems. No pictures, just words.]

To see the previous post, click here.

***

For you, O Lord, are my hope,
    my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
Upon you I have leaned from my birth;
    it was you who took me from my mother’s womb.
My praise is continually of you. (71:5-6)

More visits from friends and pastoral counselors. In fact, I called for pastoral care.

It seems to me that most of life can be experienced in at least two ways. The first way encounters every moment as a potential threat. The second sees every moment as a potential gift. This is an oversimplification, of course. But I think most of us encounter life primarily in one of these two ways.